Over and Over Again 18 fic
by Harley-Hardy01
Summary: Do you believe in soul mates? and would you be able to accept it if you found yours? Join Roni and Jeff who meet one another and feel that familiar tug of romance to one another JeffH/OC, all core group members and OC's strong sexual content rated 'R'
1. Chapter 1

_**R/N - This is my new fic guys, I wanted to get the first chapter up to you to see what you think of it. If you want to read more then please just leave me a little review and/or comment. You guys have been the best ever with me and being patient while I try to find my groove with writing and I couldn't express how much I appreciate that. I love you guys to bits.**_

**_Disclaimer; this is a work of pure fiction - there is no offence intended and if you do not like graphic material, then I strongly suggest that you DO NOT read. I do not know or claim to know the Hardys or Shannon Moore or anyone else famous that may be mentioned in this work of fiction. With that said; enjoy! & please let me know what you think :D Love Harley xoxoxox_**

_**Over and Over Again.  
Written By; HarleyMac. Date Started; 4/3/10.**_

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**Southern Pines, North Carolina;  
Veronica's POV;**

The gentle buzz of the tattoo machine was soothing me and making me feel somewhat sleepy. The sound was one of the most relaxing sounds in the world; at least to me it was. In the past 5 years – I had clocked up many hours in various tattoo chairs. I had travelled all over the world to see some of the most famous and accomplished artists in the business. I guess you could call me a tattoo junkie; getting tattooed was like my drug of choice. I had purposely left my back completely tattoo free until I had managed to design my own full back piece. Today was the start of my final tattoo – at least for a long time anyway.

I had shopped around for the best artist in the area where I had decided to settle down for the mean time. I was a bit of a free spirit, I knew that and I was always on the road – I didn't own very much in the way of possessions. I always found it easier to travel light.

My Family back home in Scotland called it running away – I called it coping in the only way that I knew how. So much had happened to me in my short 22 years of life; I couldn't remain where I had grown up and be surrounded by it for the rest of my life. Now that I had settled in North Carolina; I had made some new friends and I was more than willing to settle down finally. I had gotten myself a job at the local art supply shop, Resources, and was settled in to my own little apartment that was situated on top of the shop where I would be working. It had all come together perfectly for me.

Gas Chamber Ink had come with very good recommendations from my new friends and here I was now sat in the tattoo chair being tattooed by the recently accomplished tattooist. Shannon Moore – was a pro wrestler who had opened his own tattoo parlour and began to get his qualifications as an artist. I had asked him to do my back piece because I knew that he could do it justice from the work that he had done himself. I liked his style and had looked through his body of work and liked the style of his tattooing.

"You really designed this yourself?" Shannon asked me as he wiped away the blood from the area that he had just inked.

"I did," I nodded resting my head against my arms and closing my eyes at the rhythmic sound of the machine, "it's been a long time in the making though,"

"It's really different.....I'm not used to tattooing such large pieces on a woman,"

"What can I say......? I'm a glutton for punishment," I laughed softly as the sound of the bell over the front entrance to the parlour chimed right back to where we were.

"I have to say that you do have some impressive pieces of work,"

"Thanks," I could feel the heat flushing my features at his words.

Usually I shied away from men and the whole dating scene; my own history in the dating world hadn't ended very well and I couldn't put myself out there to face anything like that again. I just wouldn't do it and although I didn't think that Shannon was actually flirting with me; I was just more cautious in the off chance that I was picking up his vibes in the wrong manner.

"......hey 'ject," a tall man with multi coloured hair and hypnotic green eyes approached us. Stealing sly little glances at him, it was easy to see that he was attractive and in my mind; he probably knew it too.

"What's up Jeffro?" Shannon asked while he continued to work on me.

Today was the outline, because it wasn't the kind of piece that could be only half done and then come back; it just wouldn't line up if we were to do it that way. So for the next 8 hours, I was going to be here getting the outline done. It was such a detailed piece of work that it was going to be the longest tattoo that I had ever sat for.

"We're just wondering how long you're gonna be working for?"

"I'm here for the rest of the day man," my tattoo artist announced, "this is gonna be 8 hours at least!"

"Oh!"

"Why......? What's going on?"

"We were gonna get some show stuff done.....but if you're incapacitated then we'll just do it tomorrow," the man named Jeffro announced.

My eyes drank in the vision before me; he was stunning to look at. A complete unique frame and there was something familiar about him; something that I couldn't quite put my finger on but there was something that was pulling me in close to him. I was staring and thinking about all of that until I heard Shannon coughing behind me; great I had been rumbled. Once again I was blushing madly at having been caught staring like a love struck teenager at this man. However, I couldn't stop myself – there was something so familiar about him. From the way he stood to the way he spoke; it was almost like I knew him but that just wasn't possible, I had never actually seen him before this moment.

"Sorry man, I am gonna be here all day," Shannon replied taking a moment to talk to this man whom I assumed was his friend.

I lay as still as a mannequin as the 2 men continued to talk. I loved the way Shannon had decorated this space; over the past 2 weeks, we had talked almost every day as he wanted to be in on the design of the tattoo from the very beginning, but half way through was what he had gotten. When we were talking, he told me that he was interested in his clients; he liked to get a feel for them, especially when they were getting large pieces done.

The walls were a deep purple, which seemed to create the atmosphere of warmth and comfort. The flooring was black and white checked; giving the clean and slightly sophisticated look to the establishment. All finishing's were silver or painted to look silver; it was the perfect finishing for the look that Shannon had been clearly going for.

"That's cool man.......we'll just catch it up tomorrow ok.....?"

"Sure man," Shannon smiled as he washed his hands before putting on a fresh pair of latex gloves, "actually...."

"Yeah?" Jeffro asked looking down at me and smiling, which I couldn't help but return.

"If you're not doing anything....would you be cool to hang here and keep Roni company......? she's going to be here all day,"

"Sure, I can do that! Just let me go tell Matty to head on out without me," with another smile at me – he turned and left the shop.

Great; I was going to have this man – the man that I just couldn't stop thinking about as if I knew him, which was just the craziest notion ever. I didn't know him, I didn't even know how old he was or what he did for a living and I was going to be expected to actually talk to him. Thanks Shannon, I thought to myself silently.

"You're ok with that right?" Shannon asked starting up the machine again.

"Sure," I replied, "you don't have to......"

"You're gonna be here for a while and if you get all crying on me, I want someone here to talk to you,"

I couldn't be insulted when he began chuckling and I started laughing along with him until he quietened me and began his work again. I guess it was a fair enough assumption for him to worry about me turning into a crying girl on him; he wasn't to know that I had never once cried while getting a tattoo and I had never once needed to ask for a break.

"So what happened to you to make you so scared of crying women?" I asked.

"Oh God don't get him started," Jeffro was back and he took the seat in the little booth where we were situated.

Just the sight of him and I could feel a little flutter of my heart in my chest – dressed in a pair of loose fitting dark denim jeans and a tight fitting long sleeved shirt; it was more than easy to see that he took good care of his body; muscular but not in a grotesque way. It was the kind of body that I would feel so comfortable cuddling up too.

"You guys have been friends for a long time?" I asked resting my head on my arms as Shannon went straight back to work.

"Practically our whole life!" Jeffro replied, "we've been through loads together.....it's hard to believe that we've come this far,"

"You're not wrong brother," Shannon chuckled from behind me.

My eyes met Jeffro's and there was a long moment when we were both as silent as a moment of remembrance for fallen soldiers. There was something in the look; something that neither of us were fully aware of. It looked like he was feeling as confused as I was about our sudden connection. Maybe he was feeling the same way as I was. Maybe this was what was known as instant attraction. Maybe I was just reading too much into it.

God; I really did need to get a life. Jacqui, my best friend was always telling me that I wasn't living my life to the fullest. I guess that she was right in many ways; I needed to get myself a life – I needed to go out and have fun, I needed to socialise in more ways than just work. I had settled down here for a reason – it was time to change the way I did things.

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**Jeff's POV;**

This was the weirdest feeling in the world – I had never felt anything like this before. The minute that my eyes met her's I was drowning in the overwhelming sense that I knew this girl. There was some kind of chemistry between us – of course, she was beautiful; shoulder length black hair that was highlighted with thick chunks of violet made it shine brightly. Gorgeous blue eyes that were the shade of the sky in the morning. Full pouty lips that curled in to a shy smile – it made her appear so vulnerable. The top half of her body was on display and the curves definitely made me wish to see more.

"So you're new around here?" I asked her as Shannon slipped into the mode that he always slipped into when he was working.

"Yeah....I only arrived in town about 2 weeks ago,"

"You working?"

"Yeah I am starting my new job tomorrow actually, which is kind of good cos I was beginning to run out of money,"

The way she turned her attention to me; made me feel like I was the only person in the world. This was weird, weirder than anything my over reactive mind could come up with in a million years. The sparkle in her eyes was enough to blind me. What was happening to me?

"Run out of money?" I asked watching her eyes; I was unable to pull away from the look.

"Yeah, I have been travelling around the world for the past 4 years or so......I just do odd jobs wherever I am to make money but lately I was in the mood to settle down for a little while and this seemed like a beautiful place of the country,"

"Well it just got a Hell of a lot more beautiful,"

Oh that's just great....I am attracted to the woman and I am giving her cheesy come on lines that should never be used even in a 80's rom com. Fighting the urge to slap my forehead, I tore my eyes away from her and looked out across the shop, watching with fake interest as a guy was checking out the jewellery that was in the cases under the registrar.

"So.....what do you do?" she asked me. Dragging my attention right back to her without so much as an effort on her part.

"I'm a wrestler....well I was until I took some time off...."

"You don't want to go back?" she asked me; her tone light and sympathetic.

"It's not that.....I just want....I don't know.....I want......"

"To experience something different?" she asked me.

How did she do that? Without even knowing me, without having asked more than one question, she knew exactly what I was feeling. It was impressive......she was impressive.

"Yeah that's it exactly," I nodded looking down to the floor.

With that we were both sucked into the world of silence – not the awkward silence that usually arose between 2 strangers, but the kind of silence that comes from knowing someone forever and we hadn't known one another forever. We had just met about 40 minutes ago. This wasn't right, this couldn't be right nor could it be real.

Was it because I had missed Gina when she had left a month ago?

Gina and I had been together for about 3 years when it had become apparent the only reason we worked as a couple was because I was always on the road. The minute I was home constantly; our relationship hit the skids and we weren't even close to having such a great relationship as we had thought we had.

"So Roni.....are you making friends all right in town?" Shannon asked looking up after we had been silent for about half an hour.

"Oh yeah, actually my best friend settled down here a few years back when she married a local guy....so we're getting to hang out more now than we have in the past few years,"

"Well that's good," I smiled inserting myself back into the conversation, "there is nothing worse than being alone in a new place,"

"You're not wrong but usually, I am at my best with that.....travelling doesn't give you the chance to make too many friends," she smiled at me before resting back down on her arms and closing her beautiful eyes. The spark was gone – she had taken it away and here I was wishing that I had bathed in them longer.

"Well Roni......" Shannon started, "we were going to be having a BBQ at my place this weekend....you want to come?"

"Oh gee thank you so much for the invitation but I have plans with my friend......I really appreciate the offer though,"

My stomach clenched in disappointment – good God, this was getting out of control. I was becoming lost in this girl, I shouldn't have come in here. I was better off alone, especially right now when I wasn't even sure what I was going to do with my life. Yet, still there was that underlying feeling that I knew this girl, that I had seen her somewhere before or that somehow fate had made me walk in that front door of the parlour. Usually, we would arrange our video times the night before but it had been way too late when we had decided to do this video stuff so we had decided that we'd just catch up with Shannon today.

"That's not a problem, I just thought since you were new in town, it would be good for you to get to know more people," Shannon blew it off as if it were nothing at all and I guess to him it was nothing. To me; it felt like the world had decided to implode come the weekend.

What a fucking moron! I needed to stop thinking about this – I wasn't ready to get involved with another woman. I was fine on my own, I was doing much better without having to worry what a woman thought about my activities and I was much better having no one that I needed to answer too.

So why did it feel like I was lying to myself?

Looking back to Roni; I was trapped in her eyes, lost in the undercurrent of that shine as they met my own once again. What the Hell was this? What was happening to me?

"So you guys have BBQ's often?"

"Yeah we do," I replied as Shannon seemed intent on going back to his work, "we are just like Family – we're always together, we party and celebrate almost everything together,"

"That's awesome.......it's good to have relationships like that in your life," she smiled tilting her head back so that she could watch me and those eyes burned deep into my soul until I was pretty sure that there should have been a mark burned into my heart – branding me as hers.

Looking into her eyes once again, I was happy to remain encased in their beauty and what I could only describe as safety. When she looked away I looked to Shannon and gave him my best glare only for him to just shrug his shoulders and give me a questioning look. Like he didn't know what he had done.

Shannon was my oldest friend but he really did have the ability to try and control my love life and when he didn't; he was always on the lookout for someone who he thought was perfect for me. I never called him on it because usually the girls really were lookers and at least I managed to get a good few days or weeks out of it. It was just that this time, I wasn't ready for this – deep down I knew that but every time I looked into the eyes of this woman, I couldn't remember that I wasn't ready for it. Sometimes being an adult really does have so many complications that you couldn't help but wonder if being a teenager was the best times of your life.


	2. Chapter 2 Advice!

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**Chapter 2 – Advice.**

**Later that night;**  
**Veronica's POV;**

I was still weirded out by what had happened this afternoon in the tattoo shop – Jeff Hardy, as I had later found out, had left a lasting impression on me. Even now it was hours later and I couldn't seem to stop thinking about him and how familiar he seemed. My mind was now ablaze with thoughts of him; the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, the curling of his kissable lips when he spoke and the imagery of his naked frame and what it would feel like to have it pressed into my own body. I loved the fact that he had multi coloured hair, I loved the fact that he seemed to be a complete original person and I loved the fact that he could actually hold a conversation; even if he didn't know the person that he was conversing with.

Sitting in my front room, I had just rolled myself a joint and was resting back on the sofa enjoying it. The packaging on my back was still held firmly in place; thankfully Jacqui had agreed to come round tonight – she'd help me clean the tattoo before we had our usual girly night.

The bottle of red wine was in the fridge; chilling, the pizza's were ordered for 9pm and the movies were stacked up ready to watch and through it all; we'd chat and gossip about all the things that we had been doing since the last time we had seen one another. I had so much to tell her about Jeff and what I had felt when I was with him. There was no way that she was going to believe it but at least I had felt it myself, hopefully she'd at least listen to me babble about the way I had felt and was now feeling.

Flicking my joint in the ashtray, I felt the way my body relaxed and sunk into the sofa beneath me. My love of the drug had come when I was back packing through Amsterdam – the drug was used so openly there and it had gotten to become the only thing that could relax me. I was a very tense person; I would take on way too many things at once and I would always do things to the absolute limit – especially when it came to work; I was a person who saw jobs as something that should be done right and I would raise the bar no matter where or who I worked for.

Eventually I had made my way into Thailand where I had learned a lot about meditation and yoga – I had slowly converted to that way of life with Buddhism becoming my main religion.

Getting up, I moved towards the little candle altar where I had placed all my incense and candles – lighting up the strongest smelling one, knowing how much Jacqui was against marijuana, then I popped a window to clear the air a little more before she arrived. I definitely understood where my best friend was coming from; I had used to feel the same way about any type of drugs. I could respect her own believes and she respected mine as long as she didn't have to witness it. The truth of the matter was that I couldn't quite understand why I hadn't converted to grass a long time before I had – my Father was a reject from Woodstock, a place where he had truly never come back from.

Gazing out over the little park that was outside from my new apartment; my thoughts returned to Jeff and wondered what he was doing. This type of thing didn't happen – I couldn't understand what was happening to me but I knew that this wasn't right. In all honesty, it was freaking me out. This feeling was bubbling inside me but there was still that feeling of familiarity – like I had been here before, like I had felt this way about Jeff before but how the Hell was that even possible?

The ring of the intercom pulled me from my thoughts, I rushed to the door to lift the receiver, "Hey babe, come on up!" I said pressing the button for her and unlocking the door.

"You do know that parking around here is a fucking nightmare?" she asked waltzing into the apartment and slipping out of her shoes.

"Yeah I'm sorry," I smiled opening the fridge and pulling out the bottle of wine, "let me just get you a little something to ease the frustration,"

"Ooooohhhhhh alcohol!" she smiled throwing her bag on to the sofa before meeting me in the kitchen, "so did you get it done?"

"Yep and I am gonna need your help to wash it......."

"I really should get paid for doing this shit for you," she smiled sipping the drink and sitting down at the dining table, "when is it time to clean it?"

"Pretty much now!"

We moved into the bathroom where I pulled my top up over my shoulders and she filled the sink, of course she took a good 10 minutes gushing over how great it looked and what a great job Shannon had done; I had to agree. There had been no need for me to worry that he wouldn't catch what I was after because he seemed to be right on the same wave length as I was and he had captured my vision absolutely perfectly.

"So what's on your mind?" my friend asked as she applied a thin coating of savlon to the recently tattooed flesh.

Usually people suggested other types of creams to apply for the healing and cleansing process; but since I was from the UK and that had been the first place that I had ever gotten a tattoo done; I had gotten used to the use of the cream that had been suggested to me. Jacqui also, from the UK, knew all about tattoos and the healing times and the cleansing rituals to make it heal; she was great at helping me out with tattoos that I couldn't reach by myself.

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to be a million miles away.......which usually means that you have something on your mind,"

"I met someone today......"

"Someone as in a male someone?" she asked sipping at her glass of wine before she washed off her hands and I was pulling my shirt down carefully over my new tattoo.

"Mmhmm," I nodded getting up from the side of the bath and moving out into the main area of the apartment with my friend hot on my heels.

"Oooohhhhhhh tell all?" she enquired.

The both of us flopped down on the sofa and I reached for my regular cigarettes, before I turned to look at her. Jacqui had come a long way since high school – for years she had been tormented because she had a speech impediment that had caused the boys in class to pick on her and bully her to a degree. The reason that we had truly become friends was because I had stuck up for her one day in English lit class; from there we had been inseparable and I wouldn't want it any other way. It didn't matter how many miles were between us or how many years had passed; we were still best friends and we still managed to talk every day; whether it be by phone or by email or messenger on the computer. We were best friends for life and no one had ever, or would ever come in between that.

"......so I am completely freaked out because of the way he made me feel," I finally finished telling her.

"And how was that?"

"I had the feeling that I already knew him; that somehow we had been in this position before and that......that just doesn't happen in real life, you know? It sounds like a really bad plot line for a romantic comedy,"

"Well this is true," ever the blunt and honest friend, I appreciated that about her more than I had ever been able to express to anyone, even her, "but maybe what you were feeling was that feeling I had when I met Stuart....."

"Which was?"

"That he was the one," she told me as if I were stupid for even having to ask the question, "the minute my eyes fell on him, I just knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life with him and that I would love him for longer than that. I know that it sounds cheesy and corny; but that is just how it felt and I was powerless to fight it,"

I had to admit that Stuart was perfect for my best friend; he knew how to deal with her open minded and sometimes, brash attitude, he knew that underneath all of that was the girl that I had stood up for all those years before and I knew that there was absolutely nothing for me to worry about when it came to stepping aside for him to step up and become the most important person in her life. There love would be able to transcend anything that life wanted to through at them.

Sometimes I wished that I could find that in someone; but sometimes I just felt like I was better off being alone. Then I had met Jeff and all I could think about was what it would feel like to be in love with him, what it would feel like to have him at my side through all the trials that came from life and I wondered what it would feel like to be completely committed to this man forever.

Maybe Jake was right – maybe that is exactly what I had felt.

"Do you think it is possible to feel that way about someone that you don't even know?" I asked.

"I do, I really do,"

When Jake had met Stuart; he was already friends with some of her friends; so they had both heard of each other – there was already that slight knowledge between them. I didn't know anything at all about Jeff and he knew nothing about me – at least that was what I had figured unless Shannon had talked about me to him. They had definitely seemed to be the best of friends – a little like Jake and me.

"Listen the problem with you is that you have shied away from men for so long that you can't actually remember what it's like to be attracted to someone,"

Deep down I knew that she was right, I had spent so much time on getting to know myself and be happy with who I was that I had pushed dating and romance to the side and now I was in a position where I liked a guy and he seemed to like me and I just didn't know, or should I say remember, what that felt like. I was a dating freak! I hadn't dated in close to 4 years and the little flings that I had, only lasted one night at most.

"What if he is attracted to me?" I asked.

"Is there any way for him to see you again?"

"Well apart from living in the same town, or area, and the fact that he was friends with the man who did my tattoo – I would say that the likelihood of it is higher than you could imagine,"

"And he is a hottie?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," I sighed heavily thinking back to this afternoon sitting in the tattoo parlour with this guy sitting so close that I could actually smell the expensive aftershave that he wore and feeling the flutter of my insides – I had been completely at his mercy.

"So what is the problem with just going with the flow? You know if you like him and he likes you – just jump his bones and worry about everything else after," my friend smiled at me.

The unique way that she looked at things was definitely what made her the bestest friend that I could have ever asked for. I found myself laughing with her as she moved to the TV and DVD player to slip in the first movie of the night – PS; I love you.

Grabbing my glass, I flicked my cigarette into the ashtray and decided that maybe she was right – it was time for me to just bite the bullet and let my feelings control me for once. Being so uptight, or anal, as Jake called it; really wasn't going to get me anywhere because I would just shy away from Jeff altogether and he seemed to like me too. That would just be a waste.

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Half an hour later;  
Jacqui's POV;

It was definitely great to have my best friend back again – after all the travelling that she had done; she had finally found a place where she wanted to stay and I was just fortunate enough that it had turned out to be in the same place that I was living. Stuart and I had moved here because we had heard about the low crime rate and figured that it would be a great place to bring up our children.

"......they did invite me to a BBQ this weekend," Roni said out of the blue.

"Excuse me?"

"Shannon and Jeff – they invited me to a BBQ that they are having this weekend,"

"And you said?" I asked hopefully.

I loved my best friend dearly and I would do absolutely anything for her but she was so tense all the time, I called it anal because I knew that she didn't take it to heart but she was always the one who liked to be in control – in the 4 years that she had been travelling; she had pushed herself to find out who she was. The whole travelling thing had been her Father's idea; the man was still a hippy at heart and he felt that the open road was there for a reason and that to convert to 'normal' life before living and finding yourself, was an insult to the natural order of the world. In my opinion; he had smoked too much weed and it had fried the few brain cells that he did possess.

"That you and I were going out......"

"For the love of God Ron; I love you to bits but you are sometimes the biggest doofus on the planet,"

"What?"

"When there is the potential for steamy action – I am more than ok with you cancelling me...."

"But that isn't who I am Jake – and it certainly isn't who I want to be!" she replied adamantly.

Roni never put men before her friends – she had been like that all the way through school. In her eyes; her friends were the Family that she picked for herself and that meant that we always came first for her. Even when an old ex friend had told her that her current squeeze had tried it on with her; Roni had believed her friend without question and had dumped the guy. Now I knew for a fact that he hadn't even so much as looked at the friend; because he had been desperately devoted to Roni but my friend was sometimes her own worst enemy. In essence she had lost a perfectly good guy for nothing. In my opinion, the girl had been jealous of how into Ron the guy was and wanted to put a wedge in the middle of that.

"Yeah well next time, I am insisting on you taking them up on their offer – even if it means you having to cancel on me; you got me?"

"But I......"

"Listen to me Ron; you are the bestest friend that I could have ever asked for but in the scheme of things; you don't let your heart rule you whatsoever and that isn't good....."

"You know I just love the fact that you are so open with me!" she replied sarcastically as she reached for another cigarette.

"Yeah well....it's the Mother in me and you smoke way too much!" I chided her playfully, "but in all seriousness; you need to start putting yourself first – you know there are way too many people out there who take advantage of you and your willingness to be such a good friend,"

Often people said that I was too forth coming with what I really thought and I guess in many instances that was true but if I couldn't be completely truthful and honest with my best friend then the world was in a sorry state and I would want nothing to do with it.

"So what you are saying is that it's time for me to start doing what I want?"

"Well I was going to say that it was time for you to get laid....but yeah we'll go with what you said," I laughed but she still looked completely out of her depth on this, "look I know that you are feeling scared by what you felt today but at the end of the day; it isn't very often that, that kind of feeling comes around – you need to learn to grab it with both hands when it does. I know that is easy for me to say when I am all loved up and happy with Stuart and with Jack but really you have to trust me when I tell you that what you felt today; can only be a good thing!"

Stuart and I had, had our first son a few months back – Jack, he was everything that I had ever wanted. Growing up I had always wanted a Family and now that I had one, I wanted to expand it and I wanted it to grow so that we could be stronger. Now all I wanted in this moment was for my friend to experience the kind of love that I had and she was never going to find that if she didn't put herself out there once in a while.

"You think?"

"Ron honey, I think that any man would be lucky to have you and you need to just let it happen instead of trying to control it.....love doesn't work that way!" I explained to her.

"Thanks Jake," she said softly before turning her attention to the movie and all went quiet.

I knew that talk time was over and now was time to leave her to quiet contemplation. I just hoped that I had gotten through to her on some level. If she could be half as happy as Stuart and I were then I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about her as much. Being here in the states was a huge adjustment to make but I knew that with all her travelling she would be able to fit in here perfectly. My worrying was now limited to finding her happiness and didn't include the different places in which she had chosen to visit around the world. Yes, having her in front of me was much better – I could ensure that she was safe and happy, maybe it would be with this Jeff guy. Maybe it wouldn't, but she'd never find out if she didn't give it a shot.

What I didn't know was that what she had felt for this Jeff was bigger than anyone could even begin to predict.

R/N - THANK YOU guys so much for the warm welcome that you have given this fic so far; y'all blow me away with how much you support me. So as always; if you want more then please just leave me a comment or review and I will work hard to get the next chapter to you. Love you guys.

**Harley  
xoxoxo**


	3. Chapter 3 Time to move on

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Chapter 3 – Time to Move on....

Cameron, North Carolina;  
Jeff's POV;

Today had thrown me that was for sure – my mind was trying to rationalize what I had experienced but every time I tried to come up with an explanation; it was like my mind would focus on what exactly I had felt. Now my head was throbbing and I was aggravated about something that I couldn't even begin to understand.

My friends were coming over tonight – it was boys night and girls night; Shannon's girlfriend, Claire and Matt's girlfriend, Brittany was going out with Gina; I was just glad that even though my relationship with Gina hadn't worked; my friends still saw her as a part of the group and wanted to hang out with her still. At least Gina and I had managed to end it before we ended up hating one another; in my eyes; she was still my friend and I was glad for that. Matt and Shannon were coming over here so we could have a computer night – the PS3 was all set up and waiting, I had the beers in the fridge and little nibbles were placed out on the new coffee table.

It still amazed me to think that this was my home now; after my last home and the fire, I had been adamant to ensure that everything in my new place was fire proof and up to date. I had become almost anal about it.

Staring out the window the sky was already black; a few stars were pin holes in the overall black. There was absolutely no sign of clouds in the sky, which usually meant that the following day would be warm and humid; perfect weather for shooting for the Hardy Show. My thoughts turned to Roni; I was wondering what she was up to right now. My surprise had hit when I had felt disappointed when she had turned down Shannon's invitation to the BBQ this weekend. I even found myself wondering if she was dating anyone. I was truly pathetic. I had spent a few hours with her and already I was imagining what it would be like to be with her in every possible way.

I could still remember the sight of her pale flesh; the way her breasts had been squashed on the chair where she had been tattooed, the way she hadn't even flinched once while Shannon worked on her, the cool and calm exterior of her was addictive. The sound of her voice was like Angels singing – at least I would bet that they were. Oh yeah; I was truly pathetic. The shine in her perfect hair, the sparkle in her pale blue eyes and the smile that I was almost certain would be able to light up any room.

"Yo Nero – you about?" Shannon's voice called through to the front room where I was stood gazing out into the night and thinking about a woman that I had only just met.

"In the front room guys," I called back moving away from the window and picking up my cigarettes just before the door opened and my best friend and my brother walked into the room – both carrying an abundance of alcohol. "Just put those into the kitchen – I already have some chilling in the fridge,"

"Sounds good to me," my brother smiled happily as he headed straight for the kitchen.

Sometimes I envied him – he had it all, he had the career that he wanted, he had the home that he had designed and he had a beautiful girlfriend who supported him with anything and everything that he wanted to do. Brittany was a gorgeous girl who had the heart the size of the world; there was absolutely nothing that she wouldn't do for the people that she cared about and even sometimes; she would go out of her way to help complete strangers. Some of Matt's fans accepted Brittany and could see just how in love and happy she and my brother were, but some of them hated just the thought of Brittany – which was why she tried to remain out of the Hardy Show as much as possible, she was 100% behind my brother on this endeavour but she liked to remain in the side lines. I could understand that; she hadn't signed on to be famous and she had every right to remain anonymous if she so wished.

Shannon helped himself to a handful of peanuts while Matt popped the beers; another guy I admired greatly. There was nothing about Shannon that screamed conformist. People told him that he wouldn't make it in the wrestling world; people told him that he was making a mistake when it came to opening his own tattoo parlour here in North Carolina but he had defied the odds and made a go of everything that he touched. When he had met Claire; he had been in a bad place after Crystal but Claire had been patient and she had been supportive to the point where she had gotten my vote because she had brought my best friend back to me. Claire was also beautiful on the inside and the outside; there was nothing that she wouldn't sacrifice to just be there for the people that she loved.

"So Jeffro......have you gotten Ron off your mind yet?" Shannon asked pulling himself up onto the counter around the side of the kitchen.

"You did that on purpose?"

"Well duh......I thought that you had figured that part put already," he laughed sipping his beer while Matt just stood and chuckled near the fridge.

The only things that I would change about my friends and my Family was that they always assumed that they knew what was best for me. Ever since Gina and I had ended our relationship; they had been concerned that I wasn't coping and wanted to push me into going out and meeting people. It really did get tiresome sometimes.

"I know that you hate it when we try to run your life but......I have hung out with the girl a little over the past couple weeks and I have to say that she is without a doubt perfect for you...."

"What do you mean?"

"Just the way she views life, the way that she assess things and the way that she just doesn't give a crap what people think of her.....sound like anyone we know?" Shannon asked looking to Matt and giving him a knowing look – I hated that!

"Look let's not talk about this anymore tonight," I stated grabbing my bottle of beer and heading in the direction of the front room where everything was set up for us.

"Ooooohhhhhh someone is being defensive,"

Loading the new game into the machine, I waited for it to be ready and kept my mouth shut completely. All I needed right now was to have my friend and my brother looking at me as if I were crazy; and that was more than likely to happen if I tried to explain the feelings that I had experienced when I was around Roni this afternoon. It was hard enough trying to explain it to myself – the feelings of knowing someone without having ever met them; wasn't exactly something that I had ever believed in.

I needed to just push that aside and think about something else so that I wasn't feeling this weird sinking feeling in my stomach. I was giving myself a headache in the process of trying to figure it out.

"Come on man – tell us what's on your mind?" Matt said sitting down on the sofa and resting his feet on the coffee table.

"Forget about it," truth was that I felt like I should be mourning my last relationship; it seems like a couple of months for the 3 years that we were together just wasn't enough.

What I had felt with Roni couldn't be real; it just couldn't be. I couldn't even figure out if she had felt the same thing as I had, let alone trying to figure out what the Hell it had been. My stomach was still fluttering with the thought of Roni; every time my eyes closed all I could see was the image of her lying on that chair, the serene look on her beautiful features but the strongest feeling that I could remember was the sense that I had always known her, like I had been half a person before her – but with her by my side, I felt like I was a whole person.

"Awe come on man, you need to talk about this,"

"No!" I stated firmly, "I really don't!"

"I know what's going on," Shannon piped up, "it's not really that hard to figure it out. He still feels guilty about feeling something after it has been so soon since he and Gina ended,"

"Of course," Matt agreed slapping his forehead as if the answer had been in front of him all this time.

Sometimes I hated the fact that we were so close that they knew me as well as I knew myself.

Finally the game started, giving me an out for this conversation, I threw the controllers to my brother and to Shannon. Getting up, I threw myself down on the sofa and welcomed the change of topic that we talked about. No more thoughts about Roni; tonight I was just going to chill – for all I even knew; I wouldn't see her again. There was really no point in thinking about something that was out of my control.

For tonight – I was just a normal single guy hanging out with my friends and Family, and not having a care in the world. It had been a long time since I had been able to just chill out and be myself without having to worry about work.

Working for the WWE had definitely ruined my body more than I would have been prepared to sacrifice but as everything else in life; it had been out of my control. Now I just had to deal with it and carry on living life; there was no way in Hell that I was going to give into the pain that I was feeling. Slipped discs, restless leg syndrome, aching bones and muscles – it was all part of the profession that I had chosen. I had learned a long time ago that you can't change things that had already come to pass. So as my Mom always used to say, there is no point in crying over spilt milk.

**__**

Shannon's POV;

There was definitely something going on with Jeff – there had been a very weird static between him and Roni this afternoon. Sitting in the chair, I listened to them talking and I could feel the chemistry flowing between them – in fact it was more like it was sparking and exploding all around the shop.

"You know; you guys are driving me crazy.....you don't.........that isn't......fuck – I hate you guys," I grumped, "besides, like I said, I don't want to talk about this,"

"Then what do you want to talk about Romeo?" Matt asked swallowing back a snigger.

Jeff was a very open person when he was comfortable but it was clear to me that this thing with Roni had sort of knocked him for 6 and that meant that he would have to work through it himself before he even entertained the idea of talking to anyone about it.

"Well we have the show to do tomorrow......."

"Yeah what are we doing Matt?" I asked knowing that it was best to leave Jeff to come to us when he was ready. Otherwise he would just clam up and say nothing at all.

"Well I actually thought that we would hang out at the shop tomorrow – maybe from midday onwards?"

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed, "Jeff you up for that?"

"Well I wanna run by the art supply shop, so I might be a little late,"

"You got the painting bug again?"

Jeff was an artist in many different aspects and he would go through many phases with what he would spend his time doing – it was either his music, his painting, his sculpting, his motocross or his wrestling, or even poetry. There didn't seem one thing that Jeff couldn't turn his hand to and be good.

"Yep," he nodded and his eyes clouded over for a few moments leaving Matt and I exchanging looks with one another.

When Jeff and Gina had split up – it had been a shock; we had thought for sure that they would work through the whole argument stage that they were going through. Claire and Britt had taken it particularly bad because the 3 girls were really close as friends. It was good that the girls were still friends, and that was possible because of the fact that Jeff and Gina were still friends.

Claire – the one girl who managed to make my heart skip a beat, who managed to make my breath hitch in my throat and she managed to keep my attention, which was always something that I had a problem with. My attention span was short to say the least; and after Crystal – I had become so close to becoming a man whore that it wasn't funny then she walked in to my life and she changed everything about my world without even so much as a backwards glance.

Crystal had royally screwed me up – I didn't believe that I was worthy of anyone, I didn't think that I deserved to be happy and I didn't think that I would ever find someone else to love me. Claire had changed all of that and I couldn't feel more content or in love than I did right now.

"You got anything in mind to paint?"

"A few ideas," Jeff replied, "now let's get going with this game before the girls come home completely hammered and drag y'all away for whatever it is y'all do with your dirty selves,"

For the next 40 minutes or so, we were engaged in the game on the TV screen – Lizzie was pondering around here and there.....thankfully Jeff had left the back patio doors open for her; since she wasn't completely house trained and she still had accidents in the house so Jeff was just leaving the door open for her should she feel the need to go outside.

I hoped that the girls were having a good time while they were out – usually we'd all go out together but one night every week; we'd have a boy's and girl's night where we would just split up and do our own thing. Sometimes, I figured that it was why we all got along so well – we knew one another inside out and that leant to a great and unique Family with one another.

"So Matty........? Any news on you and Brittany tying the knot?" Jeff asked as he threw his controller on to the floor when he realized that he had lost; leaving both Matt and I fighting it out.

"What?!" Matt missed a fatal move which helped me win the game. Thanks Jeff.

"Oh come on man – you can't expect to just carry on coasting along with her.....she is definitely a keeper and you need to let her make an honest man out of you," I piped in.

"Do you think that is what she wants?"

"What do you want?" Jeff asked resting back in his chair, clearly happier now that the topic of conversation was diverted away from him.

"I don't know," Matt sighed heavily, "it's not something that I was thinking about until a few weeks back when Brittany was talking about wedding's and dresses....."

"So what? You started thinking about asking her to marry you?"

"Yeah that is what I have been thinking – I am seeing signs everywhere......."

"Signs?" Jeff chuckled, "you are seeing signs on whether or not you should ask your long term girlfriend to marry you?"

Jeff wasn't into the whole sign deal the way that Matt was – in Jeff's opinion; things happened because they happened – everything came down to the choices that a person made in their own life. In his eyes; things weren't fated to happen – he was very much the 'I make my own future' kind of guy.

Personally – sometimes I agreed with his outlook and then other times I agreed with Matt's point of view. I never conformed to either outlook; but I was always quick to give my opinion. Claire sometimes said that I was going to end up getting in trouble with my opinions some day; mainly because I was so out spoken. What came into my head usually just blurted from my mouth without any type of filtering system along the way.

"You know what Jeffrey – you......maybe you wouldn't be so quick to snigger when I turn the topic of conversation back to this Roni girl......"

"Wow defensive much?" Jeff laughed holding his hands up before reaching across to the table and grabbing his cigarettes.

"You know – I think that I am going to ask her to marry me," Matt said flipping his brother the finger before laughing, "it's not like it would be the end of the world if she said no,"

"I think that she will say yes.......if my opinion is worth anything," Jeff said and I had to agree with him on that score.

Together – Matt and Britt were perfect together; they had the kind of love that most people spent their entire lives looking for. They would finish one another's sentences, they were constantly gazing into one another's eyes and they were always honest about their feelings with one another. I had envied them a long time, before I had met Claire, I had desperately wanted the kind of relationship that Matt had with Britt.

Now that I had Claire; I knew that I had that exact kind of relationship – we were friends and we were lovers and we were closer than anyone could have even began to predict we would be. I was happier than I had been led to believe I was entitled to be – Claire was my saviour and she was the love of my life; I would never allow anyone to come in between that. Not ever!

**R/N - THANK YOU guys so much for the warm welcome that you have given this fic so far; y'all blow me away with how much you support me. So as always; if you want more then please just leave me a comment or review and I will work hard to get the next chapter to you. Love you guys.**

**Harley  
xoxoxo**


	4. Chapter 4 Dream a little Dream!

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**Chapter 4 – Dream a little dream.**

Later that night;  
Veronica's POV;

_'Sitting in front of the mirror; my eyes took in my surroundings. I knew that I was dreaming but this felt so real. The room was decorated in pale, almost floral shades of peach. It was a calming and relaxing colour; not one that I would have picked in my waking state but in dream state; I loved it. All the furniture was Victorian style; high ceilings, beams on the roof that had been painted black and a small fire place stood to the side of the room__..........my body jolted up right in bed; the sweat was pouring from me and I was panting breathlessly. There was absolutely no way that, that was a dream – that had played out more like a memory than a weird assed nightmare. Quickly my eyes adjusted to the sliver of light coming through the break in the curtains._

_The air was tinted with the scent of roses; looking to the vase standing on the dresser next to me where I was sat; they were my favourite colour of yellow and they were from 'him' – the love of my life. My heart still fluttered at the thought of him, my flesh felt alive as if he were touching me with those long skilled fingers; his touch as soft and light as a feather floating through the air, his lips like lava against my own – I was in love. I was happy and I knew that he was the man that I was going to spend the rest of my life loving._

_Unclipping the decorated pins in my hair – I brought my attention back to myself. It had been a long day of visiting with people, who were held in high regard publically. My Father was a highly successful and decorated Judge – it meant that all social gatherings were to be attended by the whole Family, with absolutely no exceptions._

_Being the daughter of the infamous Judge meant that I was promised to a man of my Father's choosing. It didn't matter whether or not I wanted to be with this man or not, I was betrothed; end of discussion. My husband to be was a high end attorney who seemed to be at least 20 years older than I was – every time he looked at me; I would get a sliver of disgust simmering down my back. Beady little black eyes, long black hair that was always held back in a tight pony tail when he wasn't in court, a bicycle handlebars moustache that curled upwards and made me want to vomit. In all honesty, I hated the man – he was after something and marrying me seemed to be a part of his bigger plan. There was absolutely no way on God's green earth that my Parent's would accept Liam; the true love of my life. Being a carpenter meant that my Parent's thought of him as beneath us. In my eyes – Liam was everything; he was the air that I breathed, he was the water that I needed to survive, he was the water that cleansed my body and he was my heart beating strong in my chest._

_Looking at the flowers once again, I placed my nose against the bud and breathed in the strong scent of nectar. They were more beautiful than anything that I had ever seen. Just those calming and tranquil green eyes that shone with nothing but love when we were together – that wide smile that always made my knees knock together. Whenever my thoughts turned to him, I was left smiling like an idiot and now was clearly not different._

_Brushing my long auburn coloured hair; I was smiling like a challenged person. I couldn't help it....I was in love, sometimes however, I couldn't help but wonder if what Liam and I were was something much more than lovers. It wasn't something that had a name but all I knew was that I had never seen or been around anyone who was as deeply connected as Liam and myself._

_"There is nothing in this world that can keep us apart," those were the words that Liam had whispered to me last night just before I had sneaked back into the house._

_Was that true? Were we destined to have nothing if we couldn't have one another? The thoughts were running rampid through my mind and all I could think about was making love to Liam, feeling the firmness of his body, the tender touch of his fingers and the roughness of his kiss; as if he hadn't been able to contain himself a moment longer to have my lips against his._

_Looking up my eyes landed on the man who I was supposed to marry – he was standing in my doorway just watching me; his beady little eyes glancing over the little clothing that I was currently wearing. My skin broke out in waves of shivers; disgust rose in me as his eyes lingered around my chest and he licked his lips as if I were a stuffed pig on a banquet table. Now that he was here, I had no idea on how I was going to get out to meet Liam – he clearly wanted to just watch me and that in itself was creepy beyond belief._

_"What do you want?" I asked insolent but not really caring; the quicker this man realised that I wasn't going to bow down to him, the easier it would be on everyone._

_"Do you think that I do not know?"_

_"Know what?" I asked getting up and reaching to the bed for my robe to hide the rest of my body from view._

_"That you are laying with a man not worthy of your attention or time!"_

_"You know nothing......."_

_"I saw you last night," he spat at me, the anger in his voice rising to a dangerous tone, "do you think that I was just going to sit back and allow my wife to be, to act as if she were a whore?"_

_"Whore? You know nothing about me, you know nothing about the man that I was with last night......"_

_"I know that he is beneath you.....that he is not worthy to even breathe the same air as you......"_

_Anger built in me – I didn't have the same principals as my Father, I didn't look at people and judge them by class or social standing. To me everyone was equal, everyone had the right to be treated with respect and dignity. To hear this man that I was supposed to be marrying; I felt sick – I couldn't commit to someone with that type of principles; it just wasn't me and I wasn't going to change for anyone._

_It really upset me to think that this man – this creepy guy was stood there trying to tell me what was good for me and what wasn't good for me. This man, William, didn't even know who I was. There had never been a moment when he had taken the time to get to know me; Hell we hadn't even had a proper conversation that hadn't been around my Parent's._

_"How dare you......you don't even know him!" I charged angrily placing my hands on my hips and glaring at him._

_"I know that if I can't have you then no one else is going to have you," he spat venomently._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Every instinct in my body told me to run, that I wasn't safe in here with this man – I couldn't get out – he was stood in the doorway, which was the only exit out of my room. The window wasn't even an option; there were wrought iron bars placed outside the glass – living in London in this time, wasn't safe for anyone least of all a girl living on her own. Slowly my body moved backwards as William started walking towards me.....my gut instinct was screaming at me now; I was about to die._

_Liam was due to arrive in a little while, maybe an hour so I knew that it wasn't likely that he was going to charge in and save me. I wasn't exactly equipped to fight against a man who was at the very least a foot taller than me and built like the side of a house. There was a dangerous glint in this man's eyes and I was backing up on the far wall of the room quickly; soon I would be trapped in the corner with absolutely no where to go........'_

What the Hell was that?

My heart was beating quicker than the beat of a thrash metal tune and the sweat was still coming from me. Pushing back the covers, I stumbled to the hallway and down to the kitchen where I poured myself a glass of nice cold water hoping that it would indeed cool me down.

The images were still flashing in my mind; the man named William; looking at me with that dangerous look. My skin was back to crawling from the creepy feeling that had been present in my dream.........or memory, whatever the fuck that had been. Reaching for my smokes, I lit up and inhaled deeply in the hope that it would also assist on the fact that I needed to calm down.

I had never experienced anything like this before; I had the usual dreams and nightmares of being chased by demons or bad guys; never anything that had been this vivid and played out so consecutively before. It had flowed like a memory and it had come to the point where, thankfully, my mind had woken me before I could experience my own death – or what had felt like would be my own death. Grabbing a handful of kitchen paper towels, I placed it under the facet and then placed the cold cloth to my neck. This was insane – this couldn't be real and the more that I thought about it the more it seemed like a crazy idea. Picking up the phone I dialled the number of the only person who could help calm me down.

"Hello?" my Father answered almost instantly.

"Hey Daddy, it's just me," I smiled remembering how much he had loved me and how important he had been while I was growing up – and just like that, with only one word from him, I felt myself begin to calm down.

"Hey pumpkin, how's things? Are you alright?" he asked slipping into papa mode instantly.

Sitting down at the dining room table, I smiled and finished my cigarette while we caught up with one another. It had been a couple of weeks since we had talked so we had a lot to get caught up on with one another. By the time I got off the phone, I felt comfortable and relaxed enough to actually go back to sleep.

Crawling into bed, I pulled the covers up and let my mind wonder – at least the dream had managed to take my mind off Jeff for a while; that had to be something. The whole night with my best friend, we had talked about him and what would happen if I saw him again. Now that I was lying here alone in my apartment – my mind wondered back to him and what had been between us. Those green eyes, that beautiful smile and the firm body; now that would have me having some very pleasant dreams that were for sure.

__

**The same time;  
Jeff's POV;**

_'The cobbled road was still slippery from the monsoon we had the previous night – but nothing could have stopped me from getting back to her side. My mind was screaming that I was sleeping but I knew enough that this wasn't no ordinary dream; this was something else.....something more than I had ever experienced before.__**"VICTORIA!" **__I screamed trying to push against the men that were guarding the exterior obviously waiting for the fire servants to arrive on the scene.__rd__ floor of the property. "Victoria......I'm so sorry, I am so sorry...........please hold on, don't leave me........I love you, I can't live without you.........." I sobbed into the wet pavement as the air finally turned deathly silent__............waking up bolt upright in bed; I could feel the effect of the dream on my heart – it was thundering in an almost desperate manner. There had been something about that dream that told me it wasn't a dream at all; it felt more like a memory than anything else. I could still feel the devastation that I had felt in that dream state – it was so powerful that it had knocked the wind from me; it was almost like I had been punched in the gut._

_Glancing at my reflection in the mirror of an expensive store, as I moved along the busy street, I was wearing what could only be described as a very old style suit; almost Victorian in style, a top hat framed the top of my head and the bunch of flowers in my hand had me remembering that I was on my way to see 'her' – the love of my life, the woman who had stolen my heart without even trying too._

_Victoria – the name was embedded in my head and my heart; she was like a vision every time my eyes found her. Long auburn hair that was like running my hands over expensive silk, gorgeous blue eyes that shone without any sign of judgment, which was something that most people in her standing had when they looked at me. In their eyes, I was just a servant, hired to help them with their decorations and building. Victoria had never once looked at me like that – she had the kind of mind that I had thought could never exist. With her, she had taught me about so many things and most importantly; she taught me about humanity and humility. Because of her, I never judged people and I never looked down my nose at them just because they weren't in the same 'supposed class' as I was._

_It tore at me to think that the woman I was so desperately in love with was intended to marry someone else – even if she told me that she felt nothing for this other man, it still stung to know that her Family would never accept me as the man who would die for their daughter. I had seen the way they looked at me; there was a faint sign of disgust in their eyes whenever they caught me looking at their little girl, but it couldn't and wouldn't ever stop me from being with her._

_We had talked a lot about running away together, we had wanted to just pack up a little amount of our belongings and just flee; but we had no idea of where to go because of her Father's influence, we suspected that it would have to be abroad somewhere but neither of us were very worldly. Unfortunately tonight was the night that we would have to decide because time was ticking by a lot faster than either of us were willing to admit and the date in which she was to marry her Parent's choice of partner was closing in and there was no way in Hell that I was going to allow her to be taken away from me by someone who knew absolutely nothing about her._

_Usually I hated walking along these streets in this part of town; mainly because I knew that people were looking at me as if I were some kind of leper – I didn't belong in their sector and they knew it. In the distance I could see Big Ben standing above the city telling me for sure that I was in London. Couples were walking past looking regal and proper; their cloths costing more than my entire home – they had no cares in the world. There was no one to tell them that they couldn't be together and they took that for granted. It made me sick to the back teeth just thinking about it._

_As I neared the street where she resided, I was drawn to the large puff of smoke rising in to the gray sky – it was weird, living in London, it was rare to see a blue sky; the weather was so completely unpredictable and you just got used to the miserable weather. My heart quickened when I realized that the smoke was indeed coming from her street. My feet picked up quickly as I raced towards her; hoping against hope that she wasn't in trouble. I don't know how I would cope if I lost her – the flowers I had been carrying were long gone; discarded in my attempt to get to her._

_"Excuse me," I pushed my way through the small crowd of people who had formed around outside her home – it was her house that was on fire._

_Victoria was home, I knew that she was because it was our time – the same time every night that we met up. My stomach dropped and I was sure that people were talking but all I could hear was an underwater type of drone – everything was muffled and my heart was now pounding violently in my ears._

_I was unceremoniously pushed back and away from the scene; my eyes were drawn to the window where her bedroom was and I could see her – the outline of her body thrashing against the window in desperate vain to get out. Those stupid bars had been attached to the windows at the request of her Father to ensure that nothing could get into the house in the middle of the night but now they were preventing her from getting out and away from a fire that was sure to cause her a long and extremely painful death._

_Once again, I rushed against the men; battling to try and get through their barricade but they quickly took me down and restrained me against the wet pavement. My heart was thundering as it shred into a million tiny pieces, my breath was coming quickly and in a more urgent state than I had ever experienced before – the world was crashing in around me and the more that I tried to get up, the harder the man behind me pushed his knee into my back to restrain me._

_"Please no......someone has to do something...........she's going to burn to death; please someone help her!" I groaned at the pain in my back and in my heart. No one said a word to me; the atmosphere was eerily silent apart from the banging on the window up on the 3_

_Struggling against the men's restraint, I looked up to the window to see that it had been completely consumed by the fire – she was gone, she was nowhere in sight and there was no way that she could have survived that kind of destruction. I gave up and allowed the men to hold me down, I didn't want to fight now; I had nothing to fight for – my whole world had slipped out of my grasp and there was nothing for me here anymore.........._'

The air in here was so humid that it felt like I was choking on every breath that I was trying to drag into my lungs, so I flung my legs out of the bed and reached for my jeans, Lizzie was instantly on her feet happy to be going somewhere or happy to having something to do. I padded down to the kitchen and slid open the French doors that led out on to the patio. Gasping in breath after breath, I felt myself begin to calm down and the sweat started to pass. I was still slightly freaked out by the fact that I had no idea where that dream, or memory, or whatever, had come from.

"What you doing up so early son?" my Dad asked rounding the corner of the house.

My Father; the one man that I had depended on completely throughout my life. It wasn't unusual for him to be around real early in the morning; he would be up at the crack of dawn, sometimes earlier, and he would start all his chores, which usually consisted of him coming down to mine and Matt's place to check that everything was ok. Personally, I had the feeling that he just hadn't gotten used to the fact that I was going to be home for a long while.

"Just a weird dream is all," I replied pulling my cigarettes out of my pocket and handing one to him as he climbed up on to the patio with me.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No......yes......no; it's cool, I'll figure it out," I replied holding out the lighter to him so he could light his own cigarette – he always smoked rollies said that they were easier for his throat. I personally couldn't smoke them; they were too tough on my throat.

"Well if you change your mind, you know where I am son,"

"Thanks Dad," I took a seat at the outside dining table, "what about you?....what are you doing up so early?"

"I don't know – I woke up and just couldn't get back to sleep; it's a weird one,"

I was extremely lucky; after all the times that I had supposedly messed up, I had always had the love and the support of my Dad and my brother along with our friends, who were really more like Family to me than anything else. The world around me meant absolutely nothing if I couldn't have them by my side and everyone knew that.

"So what are you planning on doing today?"

"Well I was going to go down to the farm store and pick up some bits and pieces for the veggie patch and then I have a ton of gardening to do......so that should take up most of the day,"

For a man of his age; he was surprisingly spry; he was always on the go and he hated just sitting on his ass doing nothing. I think it came from the years of discipline that he had put in on the tobacco fields – it just became a way of life for him and he hadn't slowed down even when he retired.

"But what about you? Matty mentioned something about a girl......."

"When did you talk to Matt?"

"Last night; he popped in by on his way home,"

Figures; my brother couldn't keep his mouth shut for anyone or anything, especially when it came to my love life. It was like he was always on the lookout for some way to tease me or embarrass me. Heaven forbid I should do the same to him though.

"It's nothing.......I probably won't even see her again anyway,"

"What makes you say that?"

"I just.........we don't really run in the same circles is all," I admitted honestly.

When Shannon and Matt had left mine the previous night, I had sat and thought about Roni for a long time – the images of her, the scent of her still lingered on my nose and sound of her voice was like bells chiming, which sounds corny as Hell I know but it was truly the only way that I could describe her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" my Dad asked watching me closely to see if I was going to attempt to lie to him, which he should know by now I wouldn't – because every time I had tried to lie to him in the past; he had called me on it, "you and Gina didn't run in the same circles when you 2 met......."

"And look how that ended up?" I sighed heavily.

"Not every relationship is doomed to end badly son,"

"No I know it's just......"

"Just what?"

"There was something weird......when I looked at her and when we talked; it was like......forget it – it's stupid....."

"If you felt it, it isn't stupid now tell me......maybe an old man like me might be able to help,"

Taking a deep breath, I explained the feelings that I had when I had been around Roni yesterday – the way it had felt so natural to talk to her, like I had been doing it for years and the way her eyes had spoken to me – telling me that I would be loved and cared for with her. It was all so strange but so intense at the same time that trying to explain was making me frustrated – more because I just couldn't get my head around what had happened.

Maybe I was over reacting and maybe I wasn't – the only way that I would only be able to really tell was if I saw her again and got talking to her. Only then would the mystery be cleared up.......hopefully.

**R/N - THANK YOU guys so much for the warm welcome that you have given this fic so far; y'all blow me away with how much you support me. So as always; if you want more then please just leave me a comment or review and I will work hard to get the next chapter to you. Love you guys.**

**Harley  
xoxoxo**


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